Chiller questions

Hi all; I have a question about different ways chiller are made and what you all think are the better to best ones. Made in USA preferably. I’ve seen some with in out pipes on side front back top and bottom. A majority of the home aquarium or active aqua hydro Chinese ones are on top. I have bought 2 new active aqua 1/4hp both arrived dead so back to the drawing board. Done with that. Does the exchanger mounting way make a difference other than what way it can be setup and air discharged. This is for rdwc. I want to vent air out. 2 company’s have my interest. Trade winds and penguin but can’t find much on either for hydro use. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

how many gallons?

50 60 max including res. Right now I’m only using around 25 or less 4 5gal and 12 gal res

i ran a 1/10hp in a closed loop for about that same amount of volume. no nutes in the chiller makes it last longer

One company has a titanium one to set in like that but not sure if it will work when I go up in gallons. But anyway looking for recommended chiller. And answers to questions above. Thanks for your input.

Any body use chillers?

marinedepot.com

rkymtnman said:

marinedepot.com

Click to expand...

So what’s your thoughts on Aqualogic chillers. I see there Made in USA so if anything goes wrong it can be fixed. That’s a big plus in my book. Expensive tho. Do you know of anybody that’s used them?

mine was the active aqua. i had no problems with it for the few years i used it.

those JBJ looked nice but pricey.

I bought 2 and both didn’t work. New in box. That’s why I’m looking elsewhere. I see bad and good reviews on them but with them telling me thy have to send it to China to fix I was done. That’s why I’m looking for us made prefer. Simple design on this one. I’d rather have the in out pipes on top for different placement but is what it is.

I have a 1/4hp EcoPlus, it’s been running over a year now with no issues, it has a titanium heat exchanger, paid about $500 cad. Best investment I have made when switching to hydro.

Thanks for the info. I’m I running rdwc and can’t get temps down enough. Tired of chucking bottles in res. If I do t I’m at 80 plus and roots don’t like it at all. If the ones I bought worked I’d be in good shape. But after a month dealing with getting bad chillers it made me think of all the what if’s. I’d hate to get one and in 2 mo have to send it away for a month if it goes down. So that’s why I’m asking all these questions. In it for the long haul. Nothing comparison to hydro. 4 and 5 foot autos. I’m sold. But thanks again for your input. Helps,

Well I went with a TradeWind’s chiller. When I called The owner answered and ask me what type hydro I was running and layout and do we need to custom build one to suite my needs. What other company is going to ask you that? I got the 1/4hp and this thing is a beast! Built like a tank and the mountable controller is overkill as well. Solid not a toy. The top just sits on so you can leave on or just take off. There not made to look real pretty there made to work and it does just that. Only kicks on 2 or 3 times a hour for 3 to 5 min with a 2 degree offset setting at 68 in a 75 degree room. They defanatly take pride in there chillers. I got a call from the owner Hal asking how do you like it. that says something in my book. So if looking for a chiller I highly suggest them. 5 year warranty to. Hope this helps somebody. Here’s a pic with lid off and on with controller.

crankdoctor said:

Well I went with a TradeWind’s chiller. When I called The owner answered and ask me what type hydro I was running and layout and do we need to custom build one to suite my needs. What other company is going to ask you that? I got the 1/4hp and this thing is a beast! Built like a tank and the mountable controller is overkill as well. Solid not a toy. The top just sits on so you can leave on or just take off. There not made to look real pretty there made to work and it does just that. Only kicks on 2 or 3 times a hour for 3 to 5 min with a 2 degree offset setting at 68 in a 75 degree room. They defanatly take pride in there chillers. I got a call from the owner Hal asking how do you like it. that says something in my book. So if looking for a chiller I highly suggest them. 5 year warranty to. Hope this helps somebody. Here’s a pic with lid off and on with controller.

Click to expand...

That looks really well made. So did you have to buy a circulation pump with that or is that cooling coil all that you need? What’s the price like?

It is! They don’t have them on shelf they make them when you buy it so there fresh. He can build a drop in or inline. Have to buy a pump for inline and fittings for how you want to setup. Drop in you just plug in and set temp. Mine is inline and I’m using a 1200 gal dc pump to to run to chiller and to buckets teed off with valves to control flow. The pipe fittings on the chiller are 1in but I reduced them to 3/4. I run pump around half way up so it’s using 38 watts of 60. Tested with my watt meter. I use a nylon paint strainer around pump and a 80 mesh filter on outlet just to catch any roots or whatever. Kinda threw it together because I needed it hooked up but will redo all when finished growing. I went with inline because it works for both my setups. Price for mine was little over 6 shipped. The Chinese ones are more than this and no comparison. I found out the hard way. Plus if anything did go south for some reason there here in the states so hardly any down time.

Real nice to get away from the Chinese made brands and into a product that’s made to last.
Is your DC pump the magnetic drive kind? You know with the impeller you take out the front with the circular magnet on the back of that. I read that you’re not “supposed” to reduce the wattage to them.
Not too much I can add to your setup, except that I had troubles with roots and shit getting into my pumps until I found out about these.

I Agree and helps our economy. The pump I have is a off brand and can’t think of name but will post it later. Had good reviews and can buy impellers and controller for it if goes bad. It’s magnetic of course but with the controller you can adjust the speed or do sine wave pulses. So it’s meant to be adjusted. 75 on Amazon. Now the regular pumps like danner you cannot lower voltage. There Magneti drive but voltage would need to be constant. I did use bags similar to yours but ran out and figured one of my paint stainers would work gr8 with no big restriction plus there a buck a peace and last forever. Wash n go. I need to run my other filter right off the pump outlet instead of after chiller but like I said I was In A hurry to get it hooked up since temps Were in high 70s